factory chamber?

[desertdog]

hello, my question is on a factory sporter barrel. does savage cut the throat longer than say Remington? i got two take off barrels 1 in 22-250 SS and the other 1 in 223 blued. i can get 50 gr bullets to the lands but the bullets stick out about half way in the neck? should it sit closer to the neck and shoulder of the case? to me that's to far out? i may be wrong? any ideas would help. they are new barrels at least that is what i was told. thanks 8) dd

[Skunce]

I've reloaded hundreds of very accurate rounds loaded like you describe, many with the bullet seated shallower than halfway with no problems. A long throat on factory chambers has been what I have found on all the rifles I've owned. The up side is you gain a little more powder space. You could try bullets with different shaped ogives and in heavier wieghts of a flat base bullet type like the 60 grain Vmax. It shoots very well in my 1 in 12" twist 223 & 22-250.

[Kawabuggy]

I've noticed just the opposite on most of my Savage barrels. I can easily hit the lands without seating bullets shallow. I can seat to the lands, and still fit in my magazines on all Savages that I own. Either Savage has generous magazine space, or I have some close chambers.

[Woodser]

All Savage rifles I have bought in the last few years have had long throats. Ones purchased before that had "normal" throats. My Stevens 223 and 308 have throats so long nothing smaller than 55 grains/150 grains will reach the lands, and even then they are barely in the case. So, longer bullets are required if you wish to seat close to the lands.
Which makes total sense considering they are using faster twists than are standard in some cartridges. It appears Savage has lengthened the throats so as to make the NATO spec cartridges safe to shoot in their rifles.

[J.Baker]

Why does everyone automatically assume they have to have their bullets seated to tough the lands?

[desertdog]

Why does everyone automatically assume they have to have their bullets seated to tough the lands?
sorry,thats not what i think. my thoughts are that if the throat is a little shorter i can chase the lands a litte longer to get more rounds per barrel? i may be wrong? what do you think? 8) dd

[desertdog]

o, one more thing on the savage rifle i have i am limited on how far the bullets can be seated out due to the mag. it is a older .223 heavy barrel staggered feed? thanks for all the info! 8) dd

[Woodser]

Why does everyone automatically assume they have to have their bullets seated to tough the lands?

I do not. I set the bullets for max accuracy, where ever that happens to be in relation to the lands. But I do like to know where they are to start off with.
Sometimes that seating is .005" off, sometimes it is .050-080". Just out of curiosity, I want to know where the lands are and how far it is that the sweet spot is found. Frequently I do not even measure the throat until after I have found the best load.

[dolomite_supafly]

I have done a lot of testing on my factory barreled 223 Stevens. It has been shortened to 18" and a tensioning sleeve added to the barrel for stiffness. It is by far one of the most accurate rifles I own at the moment.

I can say that on MY gun it shoots way better with the bullet seated close to the lands.

My chamber specs:
With Sierra 69gr SMK= 2.46" OAL to the lands
With Hornady 68gr HPBT Match = 2.40" OAL to the lands (because of the different ogive angle)

Using 69gr SMK's I have tried seating at different lengths from 2.23" OAL to over 2.43" OAL. I settled on a load that is 2.43" OAL with Varget and CCI400 primers. The cases are R-P that are full length sized and trimmed to 1.755-1.759. Nothing shorter than 1.755 or longer than 1.759.

My groups with the 2.43" Sierra SMK loading is 1/2" at 100 yards reliably. When I take the same rounds from the same loading session and push the bullets back to a OAL of 2.23" the groups open up to over 1" at 100 yards. I have tried different lengths between the two and the farther the bullets are away from the lands the worst it gets with the 69 SMK's. This load is not the most accurate I have loaded but they are the most consistent. I have other worked up other loads that would be in the .2's then throw a flyer. I would rather have a consistent .5" shooter than a sometimes .2" shooter. The inconsistent loads were with a bullet maker that has some lot to lot issues from what I have been told.

I realize the 2.43" loads will not fit in the magazine and I am fine with that because I will never need to make fast follow up shots because I do not hunt, only puch paper or steel.

I was told early on in reloading to find the LENGTH you want then work up a load for that LENGTH. I tried that but nothing seemed to shoot well so I started lengthing the OAL and found a sweet spot, .03" off the lands for THIS gun.

Hope this helps
Dolomite